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Wednesday, March 06, 2013

In defense of the productive "1 percent"

David Paul Deavel, a regular contributor to Catholic World Report, has penned an apologia for the oft-discussed "1 percent":

My wife and I are part of the 1 percent — so we’re used to criticism.
We’ve made a bundle — heck, a number of bundles — and while the rest of
the nation seems to be in a slump, we’re just making more. We’re part
of the false cult of quantity at the expense of quality. Our consumption
hurts the environment. Our ridiculous tax breaks reward our selfishness
at others’ expense. To give us larger breaks is so ridiculous a
suggestion even the Wall Street Journal calls us tax “gangsters.” But
we, I reply, are the makers. It’s right that our tax burden is lower,
since we ultimately provide the raw material for jobs, innovation and
future tax revenue.

Of course, when I say we’re in the top 1 percent, I mean
kids. I can’t prove conclusively that we’re 1-percenters, but given that
2010 census data showed that only 1.9 percent of American homes had
seven or more members, I think it’s likely. Many seven-plus households
are surely multigenerational, and 2012 census data shows the average
number of children under 18 per household living with parents was 1.88.

We ended 2012 with five. No. 6, God willing, will emerge from the womb in late summer.

Deavel mentions the new book, What to Expect When Nobody's Expecting, by Jonathan Last, who is also Catholic. In a recent interview with NRO, Last talked to Kathryn Jean Lopez about the serious demographic, cultural, and political challenges facing the United States: